Furniture fitted with drawers



G. A. KNOX May 22, 1934.

FURNITURE FITTED WITH DRAWERS Filed Aug. 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l May 22,1934. N X 1,959,761

FURNITURE FITTED WITH DRAWERS Filed Aug. 26, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 Flyz. 6

Patented May 22, 1934 FURNITURE FITTED WITH DRAWERS George Albert Knox, Ederney, Northern Ireland Application August 26, 1933, Serial No. 686,920 In Great Britain December 7, 1932 5 Claims.

This invention relates to articles of furniture and the like, in which there are a number of drawers, and wherein means is provided for collective locking of said drawers, said means comprising a vertically movable bar with projections adapted to engage recesses in the sides of the drawers, the arrangement being that when a master drawer having an externally actuated lock is closed it causes, or allows, said bar to move and bring its projections into engagement with recesses in the other or subsidiary drawers and thereby locks the same.

According to a feature of the present invention, in an article of furniture as set out above, a second recess or slot is provided on the side of the master drawer near the back thereof to allow locking of the subsidiary drawers when the master drawer is fully pulled out and to prevent same from being accidentally pulled right out from the article of furniture.

The invention may be further characterized in that means is provided whereby the collective locking bar may come into operation even when one of the subsidiary drawers is open, said means comprising a rear recess extending substantially along the side of each subsidiary drawer.

The master drawer also has sloped surfaces at its inner end which engage the bar or its horizontal fingers and thereby lift the bar to permit the drawer to close.

In the case, for instance, of a desk, the master drawer may be positioned above the knee-ho1e and may control tiers of drawers on each side, a vertically movable bar being provided on each side of the master drawer and having lateral fingers, or projections, engaging with recesses in the sides of said drawer and with recesses in the inner sides of the drawers on each side of the knee-hole.

Spring or equivalent means may be provided to prevent the locking member being displaced and unlocking the subsidiary drawers by tilting or overturning the article of furniture or the like. For instance, a helical or the like com-- pression spring could be provided, acting on the top of the locking bar and urging same towards the locking position.

The invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings where- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a writing desk having locking means for the drawers in accordance with the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the locking device.

prises bars 1 arranged for vertical sliding movement within a desk 2 and alongside tiers of drawers 3 (Fig. 1) The bars 1 are provided with horizontal projections or fingers 4 adapted to enter recesses 5 in the drawers 3 and the drawer 6 and such that when the fingers 4 enter the recesses 5,

the drawers 3 are prevented from being pulled out by the fingers 4 engaging with the vertical, rear face of the recesses 5 in said drawers. The rear face 5 of the recess 5 in the master drawer 6 is curved as shown, or inclined, so that, when said drawer is pulled out (as shown dotted in Fig. 2) it raises the bars 1 thereby lifting the fingers 4 out of engagement with the recesses 5 in the drawers 3 and allowing the drawers to be pulled out. The master drawer 6 has additional recesses 5 at the back thereof which are engaged by the fingers 4 through the latter dropping into same, if none of the side drawers 3 have been pulled out, when the drawer 6 is fully opened, thereby preventing it from being pulled right out. The

recesses 5a are of the same shape as the recesses 5 but have the cam surfaces arranged to lift the bar 1 when the master drawer 6 is pushed in. The side drawers 3 are thus kept locked at this position of the drawer 6. A bottom plate 6 or false bottom of metal or other material may be provided below the drawer 6 and below the bottom drawer of each tier of drawers to support and protect same from interference.

Springs '7 are provided and press on the bars 1 to prevent them being moved by any tilting, or overturning, of the desk 2. The drawer 6 is preferably provided with a Yale or equivalent lock 8 which automatically locks the drawer 6 when it is pushed in, the key only being necessary when it is desired to unlock the drawer 6.

The recesses 5 in the drawers 3 may be made as shown particularly in Fig. 3, thereby keeping the inside of the drawers 3 whole, without any cut or blemish, and without the fingers 4 being exposed at the inside of the drawers.

Fig. 6 shows a master drawer 6 having a metal plate or guide 9 attached, thereto on each side, the plates 9 projecting slightly above and following the contour of the tops of the sides of the drawer 6. The pins 4 ride on the tops of the plates 9 and thereby prevent, or minimize, wear on the drawer top. The drawers 3 may also be provided with a metal plate 10 attached thereto as shown in Fig. 5.

In Fig. '7, the top of the side of the drawer 3 to the rear of the slot 5 is cut down to form a ledge 11 at the level of the bottom of the slot 5 which is out similar to the slot in Fig. 3. Thus, even when one of the side drawers 3 is open, the locking bar 1 can fall to the locking position and the open drawer 3 can be pushed in and locked, the inclined curved surface 12 lifting the corresponding finger 4 and the bar 1 as the drawer is pushed in.

An alternative means of permitting the locking bar 1 to operate even when a side drawer is open, is shown in Fig. 8. In this arrangement, the fingers 4 on the bar 1, with the exception of the finger 4 which engages the master drawer 6, are each formed on a sliding block 13 adapted to slide in a recess 14 in the bar. The block 13 is retained in the recess by a slotted cover plate and is urged downwards by a helical spring 15, which is weak relatively to the top spring '7. Thus, when one or even more side drawers 3, is open the spring '7 forces the locking bar and the fingers 4 into looking position, and the finger 4, whose slot 5 is out of register owing to the corresponding drawer 3 being open, is forced up the recess 14. Immediately the said drawer is pushed in the finger 4 springs into the slot 5 and locks the drawer. This form of locking bar would be employed with the locking recesses as shown in Figs. 3 or 5 and the locking finger 4 for the master drawer 6 is rigidly attached to the bar 1.

I claim:-

1. In an article of furniture including a master drawer with externally actuated locking means, a tier of subsidiary drawers and means for collective locking of the subsidiary drawers, said means comprising, a vertical locking bar, cam means on the side of said master drawer and a projection on said bar adapted to engage said cam means whereby vertical movement of said bar is caused when the master drawer is moved, a locking projection on said bar for each subsidiary drawer and a slot in the side of each subsidiary drawer adapted to be engaged by the corresponding locking projection; a slot near the rear of the side of said master drawer adapted to be engaged by the first mentioned projection when the master drawer is fully pulled out and thereby prevent same from being accidentally pulled right out, and cam means in said slot for engaging said projection and causing vertical movement of the locking bar when the master drawer is pushed in.

' 2. In an article of furniture including a master drawer with externally actuated locking means, a tier of subsidiary drawers and means for collective'locking of the subsidiary drawers comprising a vertically movable locking bar having projections adapted to engage recesses in the sides of the master drawer and the subsidiary drawers; two recesses in a side of said master drawer, one 10- cated near the front thereof and having a rear cam face for raising the engaging projection when the master drawer is pulled out, the other located near the back of the master drawer and having a front cam face for raising the projection when the said drawer is pushed in and a rear face for engaging said projection and preventing the master drawer being pulled right out.

3. In an article of furniture including a master drawer with externally actuated locking means, a tier of subsidiary drawers, and means for collective locking of the subsidiary drawers, said means comprising, a vertical locking bar, cam means on the side of said master drawer and a projection on said bar adapted to engage said cam means whereby vertical movement of said bar is caused when the master drawer is moved, a locking projection on said bar for each subsidiary drawer and a slot in the side of each subsidiary drawer adapted to be engaged by the corresponding locking projection; a slot near the rear of the side of the master drawer into which the first mentioned projection moves when the said master drawer is fully pulled out and thereby permits locking of the subsidiary drawers and. prevents the master drawer being pulled right out from the article of furniture.

4. In an article of furniture including a master drawer with externally actuated locking means, a tier of subsidiary drawers, and means for collective locking of the subsidiary drawers, said means comprising, a vertical locking bar, cam means on the front portion of the side of said master drawer and a projection on said bar adapted to engage said cam means whereby vertical movement of said bar is caused when the master drawer is moved, a locking projection on said bar for each subsidiary drawer and a slot in the side of each subsidiary drawer adapted to be engaged by the corresponding locking projection; a recess near the rear of the side of said master drawer, cam means in said recess for raising the engaging projection when the master drawer is pushed in, and a rear recess extending substantially along the side of each subsidiary drawer, which allows the locking bar to move to locking position even though a subsidiary drawer is open.

5. A desk comprising, in combination, a central master drawer, a tier of subsidiary drawers at each side thereof, a vertical locking bar between said master drawer and each tier, cam means on the front portion of each side of said master drawer and a projection on one side of each bar adapted. to engage the corresponding cam means whereby vertical movement of said bar is caused when the master drawer is moved, locking projections slidably mounted on the other sideof said bar and an open slot in the side of each subsidiary drawer adapted to be engaged by the corresponding locking projection; a recess near the rear of the side of said master drawer,cam means 

